The evolution of IP (Internet Protocol) based next-generation network (NGN) architectures, which converge numerous single-purpose fixed and mobile networks and services, has provided new services for mobile and fixed voice, data and video. At the same time, devices have been evolving to provide access to services offered on such networks. For instance, some existing devices and those being developed may be capable of receiving and processing a variety of services such as real-time-gaming applications, voice and/or video (e.g., IP telephony), video on demand (VoD), interactive and/or background file download and uploading, television (e.g., IPTV), Internet, email, short message service (SMS), and video conferencing. Consumers of these services may have a variety of devices in their homes and offices, on their persons, in their vehicles etc.
To provide adequate or optimal service provisioning, service/content providers should collect information about the devices receiving the services/content, such as end devices (e.g., legacy terminals, a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) compatible phone, soft-phone, set top box, multimedia terminal, a PC (Personal Computer), or other wired or wireless terminals) or gateways (e.g., residential gateways), intermediate user devices and a wide area network (e.g., an IP WAN) or an IP core network, e.g., IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) core network). When one or a combination of these devices communicates a service request to a service provider (e.g., for video and/or audio information to be played on the user's equipment), the service request should include information about the particular device, such as capabilities information and possibly also a user's preferences. For example, to ensure proper transcoding, the requested information may be supplied in a compatible format e.g., MPEG-4 (Moving Picture Experts Group 4) versus MPEG-2.
Device information, such as capabilities is typically contained in a protocol header. For example, a SIP SDP (Session Description Protocol) or HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) UAPROF (User Agent Profile) header may contain device information, and this information is reported to the server where it is to be used either when the information is requested or when setting up a session with the server (or an intermediary entity, such as the IMS Core network).
In existing device capabilities management systems, a limited set of capabilities can be derived from a central database. However, some capabilities can only be retrieved from the devices themselves. Additionally, the methods to derive device capabilities vary wildly. For instance, methods for obtaining capabilities information may include discovery, presentation at invitation, presentation at request etc. These methods may conflict with one another; and no two methods necessarily use the same format.